Dark Waltz
by zulka
Summary: To keep his sister safe, Jack asks for Elsa's help. But unbeknownst to him, Elsa is under a curse and each time he visits her the more enchanted he becomes with her cold beauty and the deeper he falls into her tangled web. (Jelsa AU with powers)
1. Deceiver

**Dark Waltz  
><strong>by: zulka  
>Jelsa<br>AU with powers  
>Dark FantasyRomance

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><p><span>Chapter 1: Deceiver<span>

If you could only see the beast you've made of me

I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free

Screaming in the dark, I howl when we're apart

drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart

_Florence + The Machine "Howl"_

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><p>.<p>

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She knows before he knows. It's a game she's played since she met him.

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Jack Frost is used to flying with the wind. He's done so ever since he woke up, when the moon touched his heart and woke him up from the depths of coldness.

It unnerves him slightly when he has to go see her.

She's a cold beauty, cold and unwavering. Even though he comes from ice, he still feels his blood chill when he stares at her.

He had first found out about her from the crows. They had gawked at him in strange awe and had whispered to each other "the queen the queen! does she know the boy? the boy!"

He had stared at them in confusion and had laughed in childish glee. "You can talk?! You can see me?"

They had flapped their wings and squawked loudly in surprise.

"I'm Jack Frost." He had told them as he hovered in the air.

"Fool! Fool!" they had whispered to each other. "Name! your name! Never give name. Never!" and with that they had flown away laughing.

He had stared after them in confusion and wonder. He knew he was invisible to the world, to the people living in it. He was surprised the animals could see him. He had narrowed his eyes and his mouth pulled into a smirk and in a flash he had flown after them.

He knocked them around with the wind and laughed as they squawked in fear. "the queen!" they had said again.

"Queen? What Queen?" he had asked as he flew alongside them, badgering them.

"Snow Queen. Queen of winter." they had screamed.

That was all it took for his curiosity to be piqued.

"Winter Queen, you say." He let the crows go and decided that he would have some fun. He would search her out, this Winter Queen and he would find her. And find her he did.

He arrives at her castle, which gleams in the morning sun and finds her sitting on her throne, imposing, cold and beautiful.

"Hello Jack." Her voice sends shivers down his body. She smiles and he has a fleeting thought that she wants to devour him. He has no doubt that the price she will demand one of these days will be his heart.

"The winter is colder and harsher than usual." He tells her. "I can't lift it."

Her smile remains and there is a gleam in her eyes that make his heart beat faster. "Winter is harsh. Winter is cold. Winter brings death. Who are you to change its conditions?"

He frowns. Her voice is silky and it slithers around him like a snake, trapping him.

"I don't want to stop the storm. I simply want to calm it." He tells her, taking a step forward. He has learned over time that nothing phases her, not his fear or his joy or his pranks.

"If the storm wants to rage and destroy…" she begins as she watches him, unblinking. "I've never interfered with the storms Jackson. I've always let them be."

His face hardens and her smile only grows.

"My sister," he begins and instantly her smile fades and her eyes harden and he can't help but flinch. The wind blows and he feels betrayed. "I want to protect her."

"Nothing is free Jackson."

He is very well aware of it. "You know I can pay."

"Can you?" she lifts a perfectly arched brow, the amusement in her eyes is obvious. She stands then and her dress shimmers like a thousand stars.

He nods.

She walks toward him and he can't help but think of a lioness. She unnerves him.

He thinks back to when he found her, beautiful and striking. Dress shimmering in the fading light. She had been walking barefoot on the ice in the driest, coldest, and windiest part of the world. He had been left breathless for a moment. Her blonde hair whipping in the wind but it had been her eyes that had rooted him to his spot. Her eyes had been like daggers. But she had not seen him. He was unsure as to _what_ she was and so he had decided to announce himself. He had blasted icy winds in her face and for a fraction of a second had seen interest and fascination dance in her cold blue eyes and he had told her his name.

It took him a while to realize he had seen her once before. Once when he was still a human boy. The first time he saw her she had been a snowflake, twirling in the wind. She had fallen on the windowsill and he had seen her bloom. She had been tiny then. But her presence had still managed to make him freeze. He had blinked and she was gone.

It all made sense after, the talk of the crows. He knew who she was. Had known about her when he was still alive. He thought her a legend then, a tale to tell on long cold winter nights to frighten children. There were many stories about her. Some called her Snow Queen, others Ice Queen. Both titles fit perfectly. They said that a mere whisper from her lips would turn your blood to ice and an embrace turned your heart to stone.

He's not sure if he believes it. He's gotten kissed by her and he's still breathing.

"Jokul," She calls him and another shiver passes through his body.

"I told you its Jack."

She loves his defiance. It makes him more endearing.

"Jokul Frosti." Her fingers are like icicles and they leave a trail of frost on his cheek where they touch him. His gaze is steady, unchanged and she smiles.

"What is it you want?" She whispers against his ear.

"The storm, I-I want to calm the storm." He tells her and he's trying so hard not to stutter.

"Ah." Her lips are red like blood. She moves away from him and walks out into the balcony.

The first time he paid with a memory. The second time she asked for a kiss.

"You know how this works." She tells him, her back to him.

"What do you want this time?"

She turns to look at him. Cold steel blue eyes stare at him, unwavering. "What can you offer me?"

If he's honest, he's not sure. Her power is greater than his. Her magic is stronger.

"I—I can…" He looks lost as he stares around the room.

"Give me your name."

His eyes widen at her request. Her finds it inconceivable that she would ask for such a thing. His heart, sure, he didn't doubt that. But his name?

"Anything else." He tells her quickly, too quickly.

She arches her brow at him, a smirk playing on her blood red lips. "Why…that's generous of you, but I want your name or there is no deal."

Jack scowls. His names are the only things he has left. One of them was given to him by the moon when he woke up. The other is a reminder of his human life. He refuses to part with either of them.

"I can't." He tells her as he shakes his head. There is no bargaining with her, not unless she wants to. He has no power over her. He always feels so helpless in her presence. Winter is her element, more so than his. He hates that.

Her cold eyes regard him in amusement and he glares at her. She is mocking him.

"Well, in that case be on your way Jokul." She's shimmering in the sun and the glare of the tiny icicles on her dress are blinding him.

To give up his name would be to give himself to her. "Are you bored?" he questions. The curiosity in him will probably get him killed a second time, if its possible.

She turns to regard him with narrowed eyes, unsure about his question.

"To want my name. That's a steep price." He answers, swallowing audibly. He has wondered about her. He always finds himself thinking about her. He's seen her walk through the blizzards, fly on the wind in a flurry of snow. He wants to know more about her.

She chuckles and his eyes widen. He fights the smile threatening to spread across his face.

"I often find you sitting here, all the time. The stories, the stories say that when you get angry—that's when the blizzards come. I mean I can make blizzards but—they're nothing compared to yours."

She gives him a pensive look before walking back to her throne and sitting down. "I was a Queen once." She tells him. "I had a kingdom, a human kingdom. But that was a very long time ago."

He wants to ask about it. He knows next to nothing about her, only the cryptic hints she drops here and there. "I don't know your name. If I were to give you my name, would you let me know yours?"

With the strange things she tells him, he figures that she has a real name, just like him. He's often wondered what it is.

"Only once you give me your name." She answers.

He hesitates.

She watches as he shifts his weight from foot to foot. "Jackson," she calls and he looks up and quickly looks away.

"Why do you want my name?"

"Because I want you." the answer shocks him into silence and he keeps quiet for a moment.

"Then…shouldn't you ask for my heart?"

She sighs exasperated. "I have your heart."

He takes a step back, uneasy. "No you don't. I haven't paid with my heart. I haven't given my heart to anyone."

The look she gives him makes him squirm and he flees from her castle and her knowing gaze. The wind wraps around him as he flies back to his sister and to the coming winter on the other part of the world.

She laughs and knows that he will be back. He always is.

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He is panicking.

He learned soon after meeting her about the power of names. The crows had called him a fool and the roses had told him the truth.

To willingly give someone your name, meant giving yourself up to them.

"an introduction doesn't count moon child! silly moon child!" they had mocked him.

"you must give it to them. give the name! never give your name!" they had all chorused. Each individual rose saying something different. "moon child! names hold magic! great magic! powerful magic!"

"Okay, Okay I get it." He had told them, annoyed with their clamoring. "I never knew all of you could talk. First the crows and now the flowers."

"Humans can't hear. no! humans are blind! humans are deaf! moon child is special. moon child has magic! powerful magic."

"Well I kind of liked it when I didn't hear you."

They were all a cacophony of sounds, their words intermingling and confusing him.

"never give your heart. never! never!"

He had frowned then and shaking his head had left them, their sweet voices fading with the wind. He had landed on a tree, the wind wrapping around him.

"silly flowers! they are always so wishy washy!" startled he had looked around to find a robin, preening its feathers.

He had given it an annoyed look.

"But they are right you know. Never give your heart. The moment you lose your heart, then you will cease to be."

He had not understood the Robin and to lift his mood he had flown away to other parts of the world to cause mischief.

He remembers the conversation with the roses, who are long dead. Flowers never last. The Queen knows both his names. He had thought nothing of it, until the roses warned him. But even then and now, he knows that he has not given his names to the Queen. She should have no power over him.

But now she was asking for them and that made him panic. He had learned that magic came with a price.

Ever since he found her, he had watched her. He had watched her magic and when his sister had gotten sick, he had asked for her help. The price had been a memory, one of his happiest memories. He willingly gave it to her.

The second time he asked for her favor, had been to delay the winter winds that were not heeding his demands. The frost that came with them were killing the crops. She asked for a kiss and with it he had felt a surge of power and the oddest sensation in his body. He had felt a biting cold.

He sighs as he reaches his old village.

The queen claimed to have his heart. It was a troubling matter indeed. But how does one know if one's heart has been stolen?

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It has been two days and she is walking in the valleys, when he comes to float near her.

"Hello Jack Frost."

She neither looks at him nor stops and simply continues walking. It bothers him the way she interchangeably uses all his names and doesn't quite understand why she calls him _Jokul Frosti. _

She is the coldest creature he has ever met.

"You stole my heart!" he yells and she stops abruptly.

Her gaze is piercing. "I do not steal."

"But I never gave it to you." He feels anguished.

"There are worse fates, you know, than to give your heart to me. You could have given it to the falling stars in exchange for a wish. You would have been devoured then."

"But my heart is mine!"

Her gaze softens then but she turns to walk away again. "Indeed."

Jack continues to float after her and she reaches a frozen lake. "Fine. I shall give you your wish in exchange for another kiss."

When she turns to look at him, he is blinded by the reflection of the sun on the lake and on her dress. He only feels her cold lips and a numbing sensation that spreads through his limbs and then he feels cold, so _cold._

When they break away he stares at her in confusion. "I don't understand."

"I still want your name. Jackson." and then she turns and continues to walk away.

His heart is beating so fast in his chest.

Two kisses.

"I can't give you my name." He yells after her.

"Go away Jokul." the wind carries her voice, soft and cold.

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_notes: this chapter is reposted. i wanted to clarify a few things. hope you enjoyed!_


	2. Icarus

_Note: to those of you who read the first chapter when I first posted it, please know that I reposted it. I edited it recently to clarify some things. I recommend going back to read it. that's all. _

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**Chapter 2: Icarus**

_A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes_

_I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind_

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><p><em> .<em>

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Jack remembers the story of a boy who tried to fly on fake wings. His father had built them wings to escape from a king. But the boy had flown so close to the sun that his wings fell apart and he fell into the seas and was never found.

That story always made him feel strange. He knows there was something about the boy, a main reason, something about the boy and why he fell. But he lets himself be carried off by the wind and soon he forgets about the boy with fake wings.

Jack loves flying, loves to feel the wind against his face and hair. It makes him feel weightless. He loves to free fall and have the wind catch him. Flying, Jack has decided, is amazing.

He laughs as he rides the wind back to his old village, the wind whipping at his face. It whispers to him softly. It caresses him and hugs him tightly.

He has never felt so free. He sighs as he floats down to the ground. He can feel power coursing through him. It feels cool and refreshing and indescribable. There are no words to describe the Queen or her power and suddenly he feels very very cold.

He had realized the first time that the Queen's power felt like liquid fire burning him from the inside out only to flare out and leave him feeling cold and clammy.

But he can't deny that she is beautiful. She is like a statue, marble carved. He sighs as he lifts his staff to ride the wind again. But his thoughts are always plagued by her and that smile that always makes him so uncomfortable.

He is Jack Frost, mischievous being. Nothing makes him uncomfortable, nobody tames him. But the Queen, she always makes him feel foolish in many ways.

The wind wraps around him in comfort as it guides him to the coming storm. He will not undo the storm. He will simply calm the wind and the falling hail will turn to powder snow. He realized early on that he only has power over the blizzards he himself creates, but the Queen, the Queen has power over the element of winter and he is merely a sprite born from the power of the moon.

But he is not a moon child, regardless of what the flowers and the birds claim him to be.

He's not sure what he is.

All Jack knew was the darkness and the cold and then the light of the moon had shone so bright and chased the shadows away and in that instant it had told him his name. It had been a warm whisper agains this ear. It had caressed him and filled him with warmth. The cold had vanished.

He had not remembered though. The memories came later with the passing weeks. They had been like slow forming dreams, hazy and foggy and unclear like muddy water. It took him a whole year to figure his memories out and realize they were not dreams. In that year he realized he was invisible and once he found his sister, he found the reunion rather bitter when she could not see him. But he swore that he would look after her regardless. She was his to protect, no matter what.

It was in the year after he awoke that he realized all the power he held. He could make frost, make hail, and form blizzards and he could command the wind. That had been enough until the crows came squawking about a Winter Queen.

The Snow Queen was the winter itself and he had no power over her or her creations and she just as easily could undo his own power. But he could fly and the wind was his friend and that had been enough. It is enough.

Now as he stands facing the storm he can feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the Queen's power wrapping itself around him. That strange fire is burning inside of him, flaring out in waves. He will not lie. There is something that pulls at him whenever he feels that power. It's a slight tug on his heart, on his soul. It makes him want to fade away, break into nothingness and become one with the Queen if this is what it feels like.

She had been reluctant at first, until he mentioned his sister.

_Magic has a price Jack Frost. Can you pay that price?_

He feels breathless when the storm greets him because it bends to his will and sways with him and he can feel it, actually feel it in his soul in a way that makes him feel like he's the one spread out, powerful and wild. The gales reach for him and bind themselves to him before moving on. The storm greets him like he is an old lover and his heart beats so fast he feels it will burst.

If he's honest with himself he will admit that he's addicted to this feeling. This feeling of being one with winter, of not knowing where he ends and begins, only feeling like an extension of the winter wind, of the storms and blizzards. He is not a sprite or a moon child, no, in those instances he is coldness, he is hail, he is wind, he simply _is._

He laughs then and twirls in the wind and finds himself full of giddiness. He closes his eyes as he feels the snow all around him greeting him, peppering his face with cold kisses. He can hear them too, soft little whispers like the beating of butterfly wings.

And then it fades. He is left clammy and cold, so damn cold he actually shivers.

The storm has turned into gentle winds and falling snow.

He will do anything for his sister. He told the Queen as much and he had not missed her cunning smile.

This marks the fourth year since he woke up. The third year since he found her. He laughs and calls the wind and soon he is flying away, far into the sky, he thinks he could almost touch the sun.

He has flown all over the world and being his mischievous self, has brought frost where there shouldn't be any.

He laughs as he twirls and flips in the air, daring the wind to take him faster and faster. He gives a shout of joy as he descents, down to the fast approaching ground and with a laugh makes the wind pull him up, inches before he hits the earth. This is what he lives for now. It is enough to make him forget he is alone. That no one see's him and no one ever will.

He finds himself, going to the south, disturbing the wind currents the birds rely on, making them chirp at him angrily.

'Jack Frost! Jack Frost! quit! stop!'

He merely laughs at them. He's never taken them or the flowers quite seriously. All they do is jabber nonsense. Complete nonsense.

It is with slight apprehension that he realizes where he is headed. He stops abruptly in the air and he can feel the nervousness creep slowly into his body. He just left her. There is no reason to return to her, none at all.

He closes his eyes and all he can see are her steel blue eyes and he can feel her blood red lips softly caressing his. Eyes snapping open, he shakes his head and turns around urging the wind to take him in the opposite direction.

One of these days, he thinks, he will ask her. Ask why she chose to help him, why his sister mattered but it will not be today. Because today he needs to get away, needs to run and forget about her for a few moments because she's begun to occupy his mind and all he can hear, in the dark of the night, is her voice calling his name, beckoning him.

He returns to his village and his heart is calmed by the sight of his sister. She is dancing with her friends in the snow and he smiles. It makes him happy to see her happy. But he can't help but feel sad at times, wishing that he were there with her. He does not remember how he died. All he remembers is his sister's anguished face and then cold, damp, darkness. Having woken up inside the pond, he assumes he fell in. Often he wants to laugh at himself for being an idiot and managing to kill himself due to his stupidity.

But he can't because he has followed his sister to his empty grave and has watched her cry often murmuring 'sorry'. It breaks his heart and he wants to take her into his arms and whisper that it wasn't her fault, that he did it himself. But his words always fall on deaf ears. Always.

Eyes narrowing, a smirk playing on his lips he forms a snowball and waits for the perfect opportunity. Laughing he throws it and watches as his magic ripples through the children, catching them unawares, making them glow and laugh. It makes his breath catch in his throat.

'strange magic don't you think.' a voice whispers, floating to him.

Startled he looks around but finds no one. He is once more disappointed. He still dreams about having someone see him, someone real. Not the moon, not the flowers, not the birds, not the Queen, but an actual person.

"Go away." he tells them, his mood ruined.

'angry?' the voice laughs. 'silly moon child. but why can't they see you? they see the others just fine. but then again only you can hear us.'

His interest piqued, he turns to look around him but all he sees is the falling white, the glittering snowflakes. "Others? There are others?"

'yes, the others, you know the bunny, the fairy, and that strange man. all of you are magic.'

"What? Even the Queen?" he feels excited but at the same time he is confused. "How can they see them?"

'not the Queen. the queen has existed for a long time, longer even than the others. she is old. and very cold' the voice trembles at this and repeats, 'very cold.'

"Who are you?"

'a fox.'

Jack snorts in derision.

'i would be careful if I were you. mixing magic the way you do.'

"What do you mean?" he looks around again, this time walking around the trees and the bushes, trying to find the animal.

'we don't get involved. no one hears us, no one pays attention to us. but we know. the man in black…he's always lurking around.'

"Man in black?"

'he comes from the shadows. from the darkness. he will devour everything. everything.'

"None of you ever make sense. All of you talk nonsense." He finds he fox, head cocked, sitting on a tree stump. Its eyes are bright and cunning.

'flowers talk nonsense. they are wishy washy and the birds don't have brains. don't listen to them. flowers and birds are whimsical.'

"I'm tempted to say that all of you lack sense." He is staring at the fox and the fox is staring right back, eyes unblinking, seemingly growing larger. They are full of laughter.

"Where are the others?" he asks.

'oh around.' and with that he jumps off the stump and runs away, leaving its footprints in the snow.

Annoyed Jack follows after it, but foxes are cunning and he has already disappeared.

"stupid." Jack mutters feeling upset. But a new thought begins to form. A bunny? A fairy and a strange man? If these people are like him, then maybe they will be able to tell him what exactly he is and how he can be seen.

"Wind!" He calls, a grin forming on his face. "Let's go find them!"

The force of the wind knocks the air out of his lungs and he gives a breathless laugh. Soon he is up in the air. Flying at high speed. But that day he finds no one. He wishes he had more, more information, more of anything. He isn't sure what or who he is looking for and towards the end of the day he finds himself before her castle, having drifted there without realizing it.

Smirking, he forms a snowball once more and glides in through the balcony doors. The Queen is not sitting on her throne and he frowns looking around.

"Jokul." Its an unembodied voice, a mere whisper, making goosebumps rise on his skin.

And suddenly she's standing right by his side, eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Letting out a squeak he jumps back in fright, dropping the snowball on the floor. He can feel his cheeks reddening, a splash of roses blooming on his pale face.

He grimaces and the splash of rose is no longer due to embarrassment but rather anger.

"Well hello to you too Queenie, and that's not my name." he grits out, annoyed.

Her eyes narrow and she turns away. Her clothes rustling as she moves. Even though he is angry because she's embarrassed him, he still can't tear his eyes away.

"Its late." She tells him as she walks out the room. Turning to face him, as she stands by the doorway, she holds her hand out, beckoning him.

Forgetting about his snowball and his plan he teeters, rooted to his spot in both want and unease.

"Jack." She calls him again, a smirk forming on her lips. She can see through him. Its like he's transparent and he hates it.

Steeling himself he takes a step towards her and then another and he watches as the smirk turns into a smile, a dark smile. He stops abruptly. There is a promise in her eyes, a promise that makes his heart skip a beat.

She watches him like a hawk and she can see the trepidation in his eyes as they shift from her form to the rest of the darkened room. "Jackson." she whispers softly and watches in delight as he continues walking towards her. It makes her breathless.

_He_ makes her breathless.

He's not exactly sure why but here is a part of him that is screaming at him to get away but he can't. The wind shifts and suddenly he feels comforted and his steps quicken, his eyes lighting up with playfulness. There is an unexplainable feeling rising in his chest, it makes him lightheaded, and for a moment he feels delirious. It bubbles up until its laughter escaping from his mouth and he's reaching for her, grasping her cold cold hand in his and watching as her eyes widen in shock.

The wind shifts again pulling at him, turning colder but he pays it no mind because the Queen is startled and remembering his plan, he shoves a snowball in her face.

She glares at him and the temperature plunges and he shivers, teeth chattering. But he will not take it back and slowly he sees the beginnings of a challenge shining in her eyes. It makes his heart race and the shiver that passes through his body this time, is not from the cold or fear.

But what Jack had forgotten, was that the boy, in all his giddiness had forgotten to be cautious.

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notes: so what do you think? also lyrics at the top belong to _Florence + The Machine "Cosmic Love". _Thanks for reading!


	3. To Breathe

**Chapter 3: To Breathe**

_Oh, what have you done?_

_I've been dead like a dried up desert of thorns, that dig into me.  
>.<em>

_I've been awake in a dream-like state of a coma until you showed me._

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><p>.<p>

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She does not need sleep.

She does not need to eat.

She simply is and has been for a long time now.

In the darkness, she watches Jack sleep. The wind dances around her with flurries of snow, such a contrast to how she used to be. The control she has over her power is astounding, but she has long since ceased to care.

She watches Jack's breathing, the rise and fall of his chest. It is mesmerizing to have such a being so close to her. Jack is alive, he has not frozen, has not died..._yet, _a traitorous voice reminds her. She brings her hand closer to him, lets it hover near his nostrils and takes a sharp breath when she feels the warm air.

"Jokul Frosti" she murmurs as she moves to caress his hair, softly and carefully as if he would break. Her hand leaves crystals in his hair and she watches in fascination, her breath catching in her throat, as they disappear.

She feels like a child who has been given a new toy. She continues to caress his face, moving her hand to trace the contours of his lean chiseled face, watching as the trail of frost melts into his being. But he never stops breathing. She then moves her hand to his chest, right above his heart. In any other time she would have shed tears of joy, but too many centuries have passed and only the ghost of a smile graces her lips as she feels the steady beating of his heart beneath her palm.

Two kisses.

Flicking her wrist the wind stops and the shimmering crystals fall to the ground, their glow dying out. Jack shifts and shivers which she finds amusing, that a winter being should shiver, should feel cold. Yet she still watches him, waiting for the frost that has begun at his feet to cover him completely, waiting for it to reach his heart and kill him.

The amusement fades and she watches dispassionately, waiting for his death. All things die, all things fade and she is the only one that remains in the end, alone in her tower hidden away by blizzards and biting cold.

"I can never have anything can I?" she whispers, the wind growing colder and soon there are shards of ice all around her but they don't sparkle. Outside the gale howls as dark clouds form around her castle, twisting and turning, thundering and crying. She can hear the pelting hail as it hits her castle and feel the spidery cracks as they run down the walls. The hail only falls faster and faster but no matter how many cracks run down the wall of her palace, they never crash down.

The frost only keeps spreading across Jack's body, slow moving, as if afraid but then it spread faster, covering his arms and head and moving closer to his beating heart.

Jack shifts and shivers and convulses, letting out a groan and then he goes limp.

The frost has completely covered him, and Elsa can see the designs and patterns on his frozen form, all twirling vines and pretty flowers. She imagines the ice like needles that are piercing his heart then, bursting it and making him bleed in the inside.

The wall next to her cracks and she can hear the gales as they shriek, rattling the foundation of the palace. The hail falls faster and faster erasing all visibility until there is nothing but white and the crystals once suspended around her fall to the floor with a resounding crash.

She will always be a barren winter, cold, harsh and unyielding.

Jack Frost had been like summer to her, wild and free. She had looked into his eyes and found tenderness and innocence and not a single idea as to who she was.

He had come from nothing, blasting wind into her face and for the first time in almost a thousand years she had felt like she had taken a breath of fresh air. It had left her gasping, like she had been drowning without ever realizing it.

But now all of that is gone. The gales cease. The hail turns to soft dancing flurries of snow and the cracks in the palace walls disappear. She turns to leave then, knowing that Jack's frozen form will fracture into tiny crystals and he will refract the little light in that southern part of the world. But that would be it, and eventually he would melt and fade away from existence.

She hears the crack and knows that it's beginning, but it's the light blue glow that makes her turn back. Jack is indeed cracking, she can trace the fractures of the ice as they run outward from his chest, all over his body just like the spidery cracks on her walls.

She watches in fascination as the blue light glows from each fracture, and how the ice falls from him like scales, as if he were a snake shedding his skin and the scales of ice are nothing but twinkling glass next to him.

Hesitantly, she walks closer to him, her bare feet taping lightly on the ice. Slowly and carefully she places her hand on his chest again. Jack's heart is beating, strong and steady like a drum. She recoils from him then as if he's burnt her hand, and in a way he has because she can feel tiny tingles running up her arm from her fingertips.

She exhales a breath she did not realize she was holding.

Jack is still asleep, his white hair falling into his eyes, his brown overcoat and vest are covered with a slight incandescent frost. Its glow is light and not very bright but she can feel the heat radiating from it. She can feel the warmth of his heart on her fingertips still, burning them away and sending shocks of electricity through her.

It was just like the first time she met him, when he threw sharp crisp _fresh _air into her lungs. It had burned, a delicious trail of fire. But tonight it feels like she can finally breathe something other than her stale cold air.

Jack is like a fresh water stream, cool and cleansing, bright and clear.

Jack is like refreshing wind and its like she's spent her years underneath a murky ocean and she's finally able to inhale air. It burns her lungs and she knows then that its real, that she has been waiting without knowing, that she has been asleep with eyes wide open.

There is no going back. She refuses to go back. She turns to run and feels light headed. Her crystal dress billows around her, shimmering in shades of pale blue and white. She runs until she is outside, and the wind begins again and then she's gone and she's nothing but tiny crystals in the air.

When Jack wakes up he realizes he's alone. His body feels strange and there are shards of ice glimmering all around the room. But all he remembers is snow and his body slowly shutting down. He does not understand how her freezing winds can affect him.

"Hey Queenie!" he shouts as he stretches but there is nothing but silence. His only response is his echo and he feels shivers running down his spine.

"Are ya scared or something? We didn't finish that fight. You cheated!" He bites his lip as he walks around but there is no sign of her. But the castle gleams and for the first time he notices the cracks along the walls. But ice has covered them many times over and he feels like he could read the castle like a cut down tree.

'Just count the cracks Jack.' He thinks to himself. Instead he simply moves away and goes to the balcony, "Wind!" he calls and as always the wind picks him up and cradles him and takes him away. But his thoughts remain on the empty castle. He stops mid flight and looks back.

The castle stands there, tall and proud, iridescent in the soft morning light. But there has always been something foreboding about it, something that has always made his skin crawl. Sighing he turns to leave once more, the burning desire to see his sister pulling at his heart. But more so than that, the need to find the others, whoever they were.

The winter season has just begun and there is a small layer of snow covering his old village. It is early and the children are still asleep. His sister is still asleep. He would have slipped in through the window, but he rather not because he would only bring a cold breeze. He lets out a long suffering sigh. He gets lonely very often and so he decides to leave to search the earth, perhaps this time someone out there will be able to see him. Perhaps he will find the others as well.

.

.

The crystals form together and she finds herself at the foot of a mountain. It is snowcapped and though unchanged, it is still not as she remembers. She takes the same path she did all those centuries ago, when she had been afraid and yet happy to be free.

Her palace is gone, lost to the anger of the original Queen. But that is not the reason she has come back. She stands where her ice palace used to stand there is nothing but snow all around her. The afternoon sun makes it glitter but she is not blinded, nor is she impressed by the beauty. She has seen the seasons come and go for many centuries now, has seen people come and go, has seen kingdoms rise and fall, conquerors come and go, ever changing and yet unchanging.

She continues walking, the snow crunching beneath her bare feet. A slight breeze comes to caress her face, leaving soft kisses in its wake. Twirling her hand she sends it away, a message within it. She remains there, waiting. The scenery around her has not changed. The North Mountain remains the same regardless of all the things that happened a long time ago.

The footsteps warn her that her guest has arrived. She can always count on the wind to do her bidding.

"Elsa! You're back!" the voice is joyous. "But you're early! You come every hundred years. Why are you early?"

"Hello Olaf."

Olaf looks at her in awe, radiating happiness.

Elsa's smile is secretive, and Olaf can't help but feel that there are some not very nice things embedded in it.

"I came for you." She tells him and beckons him to follow her.

"Where are we going? Are you finally going to take me to your new home? Can I say goodbye to the trolls? Oh can I?"

Elsa's eyes narrow, "The trolls?" she questions with bitter resentment.

Olaf gulps and steps back a bit.

"If you must," she scoffs. "I will be waiting at the castle." She hears him scurry off, her mouth pulling into a grimace. She walks away, her dress refracting light, a multitude of colors exploding.

She traces her way back, the path she took originally and her steps freeze the water of the fjord, leaving lily pad leafs in her wake, until she reaches the shore and the staircase.

"Time has not been kind to you has it?" she whispers as she continues her trek inside. The castle is barren, in disarray with vines covering its outside walls. There is nothing inside but her own ghosts, faded memories, and old lost hopes. There are gaping holes where windows used to be. The inside is damp, and in her mind's eye she can see it in all its resplendent glory, the lush carpets, the impressive statues, the immense art collection, the billowing curtains, but she cannot feel its warmth and all the color it ever carried has faded with time to shades of grey.

The throne is gone, its wood long rotted. There are no paintings left, none of herself, none of her sister, none of her parents. If she wants she knows that she can form them, she can create them and sculpt them with intricate detail. But she won't, she did once and it only left her feeling emptier and lonelier.

"Time has not been kind to me either," she whispers as she caresses the grey stone walls. "Not at all."

She enters her old room, the one she used to share with Anna before everything began. It is empty, cold and grey. She leans on what used to be the doorframe.

Anna tried so hard to save her, to find a way to break her spell. In the end Anna died, and the task fell to her niece and nephew but what loyalty did they have to a hardly seen cursed aunt? None. She was simply a wretched girl, a forgotten Queen, walking the snow capped north mountain and bringing cold and death wherever she went. Olaf stayed with her until she left.

She left once her nephew formed an alliance with a neighboring kingdom and her niece married to a king from another country. It marked the end for her, Anna was gone and she had been her only tether to the Kingdom. There was nothing left for her, her time had come and gone. But her story remained and became legend until she was nothing but a myth.

She was a beautiful but deadly snow maiden, she was the queen of frosts, she was the snow queen, the ice queen, a fairy, a princess, a spirit. They took her story everywhere, and inadvertently she took it with her too, only adding to its lore.

They told travelers in winter to beware, stay away from the lovely girl you encounter on the roads! They had whispered. Stay away or she'll enchant you! She's a snow maiden and her very breath will freeze your heart!

She continues to move around the castle, room to room, until she comes to the front. There are no more gates, and there are no more smiling people. The town is empty, the eyes of each house stare at her, their hearts full of darkness. She thinks it's a reflection of her own.

Elsa looks at the entrance of the courtyard and farther on to the bridge and farther on to the entrance of the town, where Kristoff had once ridden in to save Anna. But when she looks at that entrance all she can see is _her,_ shining, resplendent in fury. _She_ is a ghost in the land of her memory.

_She_ had stood there that day, at the entrance of the town. Glass dress floating seemingly without wind, her footsteps frosting everything it touched and even that which it didn't. Her hair had been white and shining and quite blinding. Her crown had been shining with opalescent crystals. Her lips had been redder than the rose, they had been blood red. Her grey eyes had been harsh and bitter, full with a cold blinding fury.

She can still hear her voice, high and musical, charming.

But Elsa had discerned the threat in it, had seen through her sweet candy coated smile.

That morning she, Anna, and Olaf had been in the town square, they had been playing with the children until the coldness rolled in and even she had shivered. It had been a biting cold, reaching all the way to her bones making them feel brittle. She had gasped for breath, surprised and feeling like she was drowning.

"Elsa?" Anna had called, her voice trembling in fear, her teeth chattering.

It had been Olaf who had alerted them to her presence. "She looks mad," he had whispered, his twig hands covering his mouth.

Elsa had looked then and felt terrible dread seize her heart. "Kids go to your house." she had whispered. "Anna go."

"Elsa!"

"Don't argue Anna! Just go! Please."

Anna had left reluctantly, running into the castle. Elsa had walked out the courtyard into the bridge, Olaf followed her in curiosity.

"Who is she? She's pretty." Olaf had murmured mesmerized and Elsa couldn't agree more. There was no denying she was beautiful, but it was a corrosive beauty.

She kept walking nearer and Elsa could see her people peeking out from their windows.

"I heard rumors," she began, her voice light and airy and her eyes shining. "rumors of a girl, a beautiful girl with magic, winter magic to be exact."

Her eyes narrowed and her mouth pulled into a frown. "I'm guessing that's you?" and though intended to be a question, it was more of a statement.

"They said she was a queen, the birds told me."

Elsa frowned at that, "the birds?" she questioned unable to stop herself.

The woman smiled sharply, "Yes. The birds. They're silly creatures really, quite impressionable, and whimsical as well."

Elsa noticed the frost then, spreading from her feet creating a small circle around the woman and going father, over the edges of the bridge creating ripples on the water and leaving it frozen, like a boundary. She had felt chills run down her spine.

"Who are you?" Elsa had asked, she had never seen anyone do what she had done, beside herself.

"Me?" the woman had asked, "You _don't_ know?" and the sharpness of that question made Elsa take a step back, away from her cutting voice.

"No, we don't. Who are you? You're pretty." Elsa looked at Olaf with despair, she turned back to see the woman's gaze rest on Olaf.

"And you are?" She had asked, eyes narrowed.

"I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs."

The woman's smile had been razor sharp, "Did you make this creature?"

Elsa wasn't sure how to respond, never had she felt such fear. But the fear this woman was inspiring was completely different from the one she felt regarding her powers and hurting Anna.

"Well?" the woman barked.

"Yes she did. Isn't she amazing?" Olaf answered instead looking at Elsa with adoring eyes.

"Olaf please don't say anything." She had whispered to him.

"Why?" he had asked confused, but the pleading in Elsa's eyes made him nod and whisper an okay.

"Yes I did." She answered the woman's question.

"I see." the woman had answered her smile returning, so sweet it sickened Elsa.

"They call you a Winter Queen. The rumors said you were lovely, beautiful and kind." her words were like twinkling stars, full of shine. "What do you say?"

Elsa knew her question was a trap, ready to ensnare her.

Narrowing her gaze, and squaring her shoulders Elsa answered, "I would not speak so highly of myself, I am simply human. It is true that I am a queen, but I would never be arrogant enough to call myself the queen of winter. I do not deserve such a title. I am simply the Queen of this land, Arendelle."

The woman had regarded her silently, face impassive, eyes unfathomable. "I saw your castle, it gleamed in the morning sun, quite an eyesore."

From the corner of her eye she could see Olaf's disbelief and before he could say anything she placed her arm in front of him.

"I'm sure its nothing compared to what you can do." Elsa told her motioning to the frost covering the bridge.

But the woman remained unmoved. "I removed it," she told her simply, the sweet smile coating her lips once more. "I didn't like it."

Elsa's eyes widened and Olaf gasped. "You-"

"Shh! Olaf."

"As a matter of fact," the woman continued, her musical voice wrapped itself around them leaving Elsa dizzy. "I don't like him either." and she flicked her wrist toward Olaf.

Elsa watched in horror as Olaf's little body had been lifted into the air and the crystal magical wind around him began to dissolve him, erode him into tiny pieces of ice."

"Elsa!" he had cried horrified.

"Stop!" she had yelled. "Please stop it."

The woman had simply smiled at her, her blood lips pulling into a razor sharp smile. "Are you going to stop me?"

Elsa had glared, eyes fierce with determination and shooting her arm out had sent her own magic toward Olaf. She had watched in despair as her magic had no effect and Olaf dissolved into nothing but flurries of snow, a carrot nose falling to the ground and the twigs clattering on the stones.

"No…" she had whispered, voice wobbly and full of tears. "Why would you…"

The woman simply giggled.

A gasp made her turn to look behind her only to find Anna by the gates, her hands covering her mouth.

"Anna!"

"Elsa, she—" but she didn't finish but Elsa knew what Anna was going to say _she killed Olaf._

"Oh, and who might you be?" the woman asked walking closer, amusement dancing in her eyes.

Elsa blocked her path and then she felt it, the wind, icy gales that made her shiver, they raised goosebumps on her flesh.

"Beautiful isn't?" she asked, "the wind is mine to command."

Elsa's lips formed a grim line.

"Stand aside _queen_ of arendelle." the mockery in the woman's voice stung.

"No," she whispered. "I will not let you harm anyone here."

The woman had burst into peals of laughter then, "or what? You're going to protect them the same way you protected that snowman? Pathetic. You are pathetic."

"I will only ask you once to please leave." Elsa told her, standing her ground, her gaze hard and unwavering.

The woman narrowed her eyes, "You dare challenge _me_, you wretched girl!" she snarled viciously, her face blackened with rage as she flicked her wrist in Elsa's direction.

Elsa yelped as a strong gust of wind knocked her down, sending her crashing on the stones several feet away. Lifting herself on her arms she felt the wind once more as it collided with her and she gasped as she felt it, cutting and razor sharp leaving tiny cuts on her flesh.

"I came to teach you a lesson _little girl_, no one tries to usurp my name. They called you beautiful, they called you kind, they called you a _Queen of Winter _but know this, I am the only Queen and you are not more powerful than _me!_"

"Elsa!"

Her arms had covered her face, and she could feel slash after slash, cut after cut, making her cry in pain. "Stay back Anna." she had gritted out. Her hair came undone and she had felt it whip angrily around her.

"And I will show you just how powerless you are."

That was when she noticed it, the frost that had begun spreading, heading in her direction and that of the town. Panic had gripped and squeezed her heart when she realized she could not move. It was then that she became aware to the fact that she was freezing, a film of ice had begun covering her fingertips, another was inching its way up her legs.

The wind stopped suddenly.

It had burned. The cold had burned.

"Elsa!" she couldn't turn, the patches of frost had appeared all over her body, connecting slowly, icy flowers had bloomed over her skin. She had felt Anna's hands grip her.

"Anna run, get inside." she had whispered, fear swirling inside her.

"No. I won't leave you!"

"If you want your end to come faster, I can arrange that." the Queen whispered.

"No! Leave her be! I'm the one you want." Elsa had shouted, struggling to move.

"_I_ am the Snow Queen, you human wretch, I _am_ winter. I've lived longer than you can imagine and I will not allow a _human child_ to take away what is rightfully mine. I am going to get rid of you and anyone who knew you until there is no memory of you!"

The boom of thunder sounded above them and Anna gasped at the quickly forming mass of dark clouds. The wind began to howl then blowing in gusts, and Anna winced as the frozen rain began to fall. She looked at the woman whose eyes shone with unbridled fury. The screams began then, but her vision was being obscured with the hail and the falling snow.

Elsa winced as she heard her people scream, gritting her teeth she had tried to move her arms, her legs, anything.

"This will be your grave."

She had never imagined someone like the Snow Queen could exist, such powerful magic it chilled her blood.

"I hoped that we would have more time together," Anna whispered softly. It had made Elsa's eyes fill with tears.

"We will." she had answered but despair gripped at her insides, she could hear the children crying, hear the screams of her people as everything turned white, as the wind howled and raged against them, it whispered harsh things to her.

Anna gave a sharp cry, and out of the corner of her eye she could see her, looking at her hands, the frost crackling as it covered her.

It was in that moment when she gathered the strength she didn't know she had and yelled "NO!"

She would not see her sister frozen for a second time.

A look of surprised had flickered in the Snow Queens eyes before it was replaced by burning hatred.

"STOP!" Elsa had screamed, eyes tightly shut and the wind had stopped momentarily, the hail and snow drifted suspended in air and a shockwave spread all around them, a glimmer of blue exploding from her outstretched arms.

Anna had gasped in surprise and bewildered, Elsa opened her eyes to see everything stop as if suspended in time. The frost crackled, shifted, and the people in the bridge stared at her in awe.

"I will not allow you to harm anyone. Now go." there was a hard edge to her voice, a threat.

"You want to fight me?" the Snow Queen had said calmly. "So be it." She spread her arms in an arc and then twisted her palms outward in Elsa's direction, a gust of wind and shimmery white exploding from her hands, headed towards Elsa.

Elsa's eyes had widened and she stretched her arms out in defense, a shimmer of blue shooting out to meet the Snow Queen's magic.

Anna had cried and stumbled as the shockwaves rocked the bridge and the water around them, when the magic met. Elsa had struggled to contain, to stop the Queen's magic from overpowering her, she was powerful indeed. But she would not give up, she would keep Anna and her people safe. It was her duty as Queen of Arendelle.

"Oh my god." Anna had cried, shifting Elsa's focus from the ice beam to the Queen and the snow figure behind her. It was a Dragon, formed from ice, and around it other figures were forming but she hadn't been able to tell what they were. With the Queen's laughter ringing in her ears the creatures attacked, breaking her concentration and allowing the Queen's magic to sent her flying back into the courtyard, hitting her back against the fountain with a slight crack.

She cried out in pain, black spots dancing in her vision.

"Elsa!" she could barely focus on Anna's footsteps as they reached her, her arms trying to pull her up. The ground shook and she imagined the creatures were near them. "Please get up. You can do this! We can do this! She's attacking the town too!"

She struggled to open her eyes, but the pain was too much as it coursed through her body, making it want to shut down. She opened her eyes, her vision had been blurry and through it she saw everything melding together, all colors blurring into one, twisting and shifting in and out of focus, her blood rushing in her ears. She could feel the blood in her mouth.

"Anna…run…" she had whispered as she stared at the approaching dragon.

"No! I'm not leaving you! I love you Elsa! I'm not letting you face anything alone anymore!"

"That's not the point!" she had yelled as she swayed on her feet. "I don't want her to hurt you!"

Anna had stared at her sister, eyes brimming with tears.

A deafening roar filled the air and both of them winced as the Dragon charged forward, with raised claws ready to strike. In a moment of desperation Elsa had pushed Anna out of the way and yelped as the claws dug into her side and sent her flying crashing against the courtyard wall and fell to the ground in a heap like a broken doll. She groaned in pain and gasped for breath. She had been ready to succumb to the darkness when Anna cried out in terror.

She opened her bleary eyes, blurry with pain. The Dragon stood there, turned towards her, empty eye sockets staring at her but it was the Queen who had been walking towards Anna.

"I offer no mercy, child. Now die. But rest in peace knowing that your sister will soon join you." And the Queen had raised her arm, Anna backed away, finally able to see her clearly. A terrible beauty, "You're heartless," she had whispered.

"I have no need for a heart, silly girl."

"You're a very sad person indeed. Probably very lonely."

"Enough! Now begone!" and Anna shut her eyes tightly, hiding her face behind her arms in defense and in the resounding crash that followed she barely heard Elsa's enraged shout. She only felt the wind as it sent her stumbling a few steps back and when she opened her eyes all she saw was white mist and Elsa limping towards her, hair disheveled, uneven, matted with blood, a split lip and scarlet spreading across her blue dress from the wound on her side.

"Elsa!" she shouted in relief and made to run towards her.

"Stay back Anna." and she did, the darkness in Elsa's voice making her pause. Elsa's eyes were enraged and almost as cold as the Queen's. It frighted her. She finally looked around and realized the dragon was gone, and there was a stillness in the air that had made her hair stand on end.

Elsa stopped a few feet away from her and turned, a dark chuckle followed as the mist dissolved, revealing the Queen, clutching her chest. The chuckles turned into laughter, mocking laughter. She bared her teeth at Elsa, grey eyes, wide with contempt.

"Love?" she had said, her voice dripping disgust. "I see."

Elsa had seen the cracks forming from the wound on her chest, she heard the crack of the ice as they spread all over the Snow Queen's body.

"I warned you to leave her alone."

"Indeed you did." The Queen answered.

The wind began to blow again, softly this time and it began to take the Snow Queen with it. Shards of ice fell from her body, tiny, sparkling, drifting away.

"You think love saved you? Well you will soon find out how useless love is." Her blood red lips pulled into a saccharine smile. "You will dazzle and enchant, Queen of Arendelle, and no one will be able to resist your beauty. But your heart will turn so cold that your very breath will turn them to stone. All shall love you and despair."

She then fell to glimmering pieces, shards of ice that swirled in the wind, her voice echoing. Elsa looked around bewildered, and stared in consternation as the shards began to drift toward her and gave a shout of surprise as they circled her, creating a cocoon around her. She felt an icy wave of magic flow through her body, leaving her trembling and then everything was gone, and she stood there alone, scarlet dripping from her lips coating them blood red.

If she stares hard enough she can see herself, her former self standing in the middle of the courtyard, blue dress cracked and bleeding, unaware of what the curse would bring her. She almost feels sorry for her, that poor girl. But it has been a very long time since that fateful battle.

Love brought her nothing but misery in the end. Her people had rejoiced with her victory and what prince or king did not try to come to her rescue? The story of the cursed Queen spread and the heroes lined up trying to save her with true love's kiss.

But she only loved Anna and even Anna couldn't break her spell. She left her then, when a simple touch from her hand could make Anna's arm freeze, even without her intending it. She stayed in the mountains after that. She soon learned that as the Snow Queen had spoken so it was. Her very breath was enough to freeze someone's heart. She stayed in the North Mountain, and with Anna's death she left, a myth, a phantom of her former self.

She continues walking, recalling the dragon and how she had destroyed it in her rage, in her desperate attempt to save her sister. She crosses the bridge and she can see the Queen's flowing dress, sparkling, blinding and cold, opalescent crystals on her crown. She passes by her ghost, and continues walking to the town and beyond until she reaches the edge of the forest.

The trolls could do nothing for her. It came to the point where no one could approach her without feeling death's icy grip on them and she understood then why love was useless.

"Elsa!" Olaf is walking towards her, eyes wide and smiling.

"Are you ready?" she asks and Olaf only nods. She is glad for the little snowman, the last remnant of her old life.

She and Anna had watched in awe as Olaf had formed again once the Queen had been defeated, a simple "What did I miss?" coming from his mouth, eyes wide as he stared at Elsa. But she never understood why Marshmallow never returned to be.

"Where are we going?" he asks as he looks between her and the road ahead.

"To the south. To my new castle. There is someone I want you to meet." There is a smile hidden in her voice that makes Olaf blink.

"Really?" he asks, excitement bubbling in him. It has been a very long time since he has spoken or seen someone other than the trolls.

"Who is it? I'm so excited! Did you make someone new?" A million questions erupt from him as he imagines this new person or thing and all the adventures and fun they can have. Perhaps Elsa will finally be happy again.

"You will see." Elsa tells him softly as she waves her hands and suddenly they are disintegrating into fractals of ice and Olaf can't help but hate the feeling.

They are falling and then whirling in the wind. Soon he is back together and standing in a dry place, mountains of ice surround them and before him stands another ice castle, just as striking but its edges are irregular, jagged, the spiral towers sharp and uninviting.

He looks at Elsa then, hair in a bun, glass like dress billowing around her, shimmering between white and pale blue, just like her old one but with no cape or sleeves. She wears no crown, she never has but in her hair he finds opalescent crystals in a vine pattern. She wears no shoes.

"Where are your shoes Elsa?"

"I've no use for them Olaf." she answers walking into the castle.

He follows her in and is disappointed by the empty space. There is a blue glow that comes and goes, it shimmers down and up the walls. He looks at her again and remembers old Elsa. When Elsa left, her eyes had looked like cracked blue glass. He thinks that if he looks close enough he will find the spider web cracks beneath the coldness that lies there now.

But soon he forgets as Elsa starts walking up a flight of stairs.

"Oooh! Elsa where is the person? Who are we meeting?" his excitement returns and he looks around the castle, running to catch up with her. "Are they hiding?"

"He is not here now Olaf. But he will come soon."

"Oh! Is he your friend? How did you meet? What's his name?"

They have reached her throne room and Olaf stares at her throne, all sharp angles and protruding spikes. "That doesn't look comfortable Elsa."

She laughs and Olaf smiles sadly because her laughter is hollow, ever since her eyes cracked, so did her laughter and her smile. He doesn't know how to bring it back, the trolls didn't either. But Elsa hasn't cried in a very long time and the coldness that grows within her scares him more and more each day.

"Olaf," she begins as she sits, her eyes a storm of emotions but he can't place any of them. "He comes and goes Olaf, this boy."

She smiles then all sharp, but soon it turns into a scowl. Her eyes cloud over and her smile returns but Olaf doesn't like that smile at all. It's a cold, merciless smile.

"He's tricky Olaf."

"What do you mean? Ohh! He likes to play tricks? What does he do?"

Elsa stares at him. It's a calculating look that makes him shift. "His name, Olaf. He likes to be tricky about his name."

"What does he do Elsa? Will he trick me too?"

"Yes. He will try to trick you Olaf but you must not fall for it. He will try to convince you that his name isn't what it should be."

"What should I do Elsa?" Olaf's eyes are wide with alarm and innocence.

"Play along Olaf, pretend that you don't know his real name and that you are playing his game."

Olaf nods understandingly, "Okay! I can do that. What is his real name Elsa?"

"His name is Jokul," her eyes shine bright then, a look of hunger flickers in them "but he will try to trick you by saying his name is Jack Frost."

"Got it." Olaf says as he places his hand over his mouth, "Hmm. So he will trick me by saying his name is Jack Frost. Okay! I won't believe him because his real name is Jokul! Thanks Elsa. But why does he do that?"

Elsa's lifts a brow, an amused smile plays on her lips. "Because he wants to be free Olaf. But he will soon learn that there is no freedom."

"Huh?"

"He asked for my help and now he doesn't want to pay me back. So he thinks that tricking me about his name will help him."

"Oh. I see. Well I won't fall for it!" But if he is honest, he doesn't like this talk about freedom and owing people and not owing. Old Elsa wouldn't have cared. But he loves Elsa and he loves her more ever since her eyes cracked like glass when Anna died.

"He will come soon Olaf. You can go explore if you want. Just don't forget."

"I won't let you down, is he always away?"

"He comes and goes," at this she frowns and her eyes narrow, "but soon he will stay and then we won't be alone anymore Olaf."

"Oh so then he's going to be our new friend forever?" He's walking around her room in excitement and misses the dark smile spreading across her red lips.

"Yes Olaf, forever."

_ ._

_ . ._

_ ._

notes: lyrics at the beginning are from Nico Vega's, "Lightning". Thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts.


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